


Voices

by Flufferdoodle



Series: perceptions [2]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Character Study, Ficlet Collection, akira always deserves better, quiet akira
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 00:21:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28626423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flufferdoodle/pseuds/Flufferdoodle
Summary: It was as if his voice vanished upon his arrival to Tokyo. Akira never spoke much to begin with, but he’d never felt silence settle so deeply.
Series: perceptions [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2095905
Comments: 5
Kudos: 60
Collections: Quality Persona Fics





	Voices

It was as if his voice vanished upon his arrival to Tokyo. Akira never spoke much to begin with, but he’d never felt silence settle so deeply.

 _You should go to bed,_ his mind supplies. _You shouldn’t touch Sakura-san’s things. You should check the train map._

Should, should, should.

He thinks back to the incident. The confusion.

Why hadn’t the woman stood up for him?

Why hadn’t anyone?

Sakura Sojiro looks at him, disapproval with a hint of pity, and Akira says what’s required, voice stuck in the courtroom. There is nothing left for him to say, and nothing left he wants to hear.

Ryuji is a relief. He talks enough for the two of them, fills the space, forces his opinions, and Akira, for the first time in a while, finds words worth listening to. Loud and passionate, he lets the force of another voice fill his empty head.

Ryuji talks with the expectation that nobody wants to listen, and the demands that they do so anyways. He shouts and yells and points and stomps, angry and confused, refusing to take no for an answer.

It’s not like Akira would ever find a reason to deny him, anyways. It’s the strength of Ryuji’s will that makes Akira dig out his own, even if he’s not quite sure how to share it.

And then comes Ann – melodic and bright, a dancing flame – and her words mingle and clash with Ryuji’s, and Akira is so, so grateful that finally there’s sound again. Something to give fire to his own quiet remarks.

She’s every bit as willful as Ryuji is, ready to scream and shout against the injustice she faces, swirled in with a kindness far gentler. She draws her inspiration from others, and Akira draws inspiration from her. Compliments and praise fall easy from her lips, and Akira finds himself drinking in each one. He has so many to give her back.

It would have been too quiet when Ann and Ryuji left if it weren’t for Morgana.

The empty shoulds erode away as Morgana gently nudges him in the right direction, guides him through every step he doesn’t want to take. It’s easier. It’s better.

Morgana gives his thoughts as easily as he gives his trust; an optimistic, demanding voice to get Akira through the night.

Armed with a paintbrush and canvas, Yusuke talks in more ways than one. He has so much to say and still nothing at all. He shows up right as the constant push of Ann and Ryuji becomes too much. Calming water, art, ambition. Yusuke has so much to share with the world, constantly pursuing an audience that will finally understand.

Akira, for the first time in a while, wonders what his own message is.

Makoto is hesitant but firm and a little bit full of herself. She makes demands and comments and pushes and shoves without lifting a finger. Her voice is quiet and composed, and Akira perks up every time he hears it. Each statement is like another piece to a puzzle; she doesn’t give everything away at once. Just a little bit here, a little bit there.

It keeps Akira thinking, replaying her words over and over again late into the evening. It’s a sharp contrast from Ryuji and Ann’s open honesty, Yusuke’s lost philosophy, and Morgana’s unrelenting mystery; the things Makoto shares hold an answer.

He wants to know hers and wants to know his own.

Futaba’s voice surprises Akira, shrill and scared, until they steal her heart. And then it’s what it should be: high and dazzling, full of knowledge without a shred of maturity. She’s aloof and persistent, nervous and shaky, and every ounce a girl with a path forward.

When the fear returns, whether it be in the face of her uncle or in the depths of Mementos as the Reaper slashes into Akira’s chest, Akira feels something deep within him tighten and twist. Each time, he resolves to keep her voice as it should be – zealous and determined.

He clings to her words in the Metaverse like the lifeline they are, like the red string through the labyrinth, and feels a sense of family.

By the time Haru joins, Akira has found more reason to speak. He’s at a loss for words, though, when she shares her thoughts with him. They start out so uncertain, high and light, and Akira finds himself pushing for Ann’s bright encouragement and Makoto’s firm understanding as he helps draw out her answers.

It’s as if her message was always present, just a little veiled by the guilt of betrayal. But it was there, and Akira was glad to hear it. She gifts him peace and sincerity and peels away at his own regrets. She’s selfless and strong, and Akira holds her distant level-headedness close to his heart.

Akechi’s voice is wrong, and Akira can’t get it out of his head.

It’s fake, desperate, coy. Akira doesn’t want to share his own thoughts and feel them twist in Akechi’s too-polite quips and mutters, and so Akira gives him nothing but indifference.

Akechi clings to it, though, as if the comments Akira provides him aren’t just as fake as the one Akechi gives as well.

Maybe it’s a good thing that he hates Akechi’s masked voice so much, because it’s what saves him in the end.

When Sae tells Akira to speak, the drugs fog his memory. Lavenza whispers in the background, though, and suddenly sound cuts clean through. He pulls his voice from his friends, letting the words spill out for the first time since he reached Tokyo.

It wasn’t all the things he wanted to say, wasn’t the person he wanted to say them to, but he had them, had to share them. Whispers and screams in the midst of a dark world held Akira in place as every part of his body screamed for him to let go, and he finds the Phantom Thieves’ passion pulling Sae to their side.

His side.

His justice.

His message.

**Author's Note:**

> yeah


End file.
